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Chamberlain’s Role in Relief Still Diminished

Joba Chamberlain pitched in 73 regular-season games, more than any other Yankee. Two games into the division series against the Minnesota Twins, Chamberlain has only warmed up in the bullpen, for an appearance that never materialized.

The Yankees’ bullpen jobs are secure, with Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera locking down the last two innings, Boone Logan deploying against left-handed hitters and Dave Robertson supplying versatility. All pitched in the opener, and Wood and Rivera worked in Game 2.

Chamberlain’s role, as has been the case for much of the last two months, is not defined.

“I’ve told all those guys to be ready at any time,” Manager Joe Girardi said before Game 3 Saturday at Yankee Stadium. “Don’t assume that you’re pitching. Things can change at anytime.”

For the most part, they have not. Robertson replaced Chamberlain as the Yankees’ setup reliever toward the end of July, and Wood took over that role in early September.

“Our bullpen got deeper with Kerry; that’s the bottom line,” Girardi said. “Kerry’s been excellent, and we’ve kind of went with him.”

It is a precipitous drop in responsibility for Chamberlain, who excelled as the bridge to Rivera during the Yankees’ championship run last year and in his dominant rookie season of 2007, when he had 38 strikeouts across 27 2/3 innings, including the postseason.

“I think it would be hard to live up to the expectations he created in ’07,” Girardi said. “He was so dominant. It’s pretty hard for anyone to carry that for a long, long period of time. You don’t see pitchers do that.”

Chamberlain struggled through the first four months of this season, going 1-4 with a 5.60 earned run average in 45 appearances, but fared better in a less pressurized role, pitching to a 2.36 E.R.A. in 28 games. Opponents hit .200 against him after Aug. 1.

Chamberlain last pitched in last Sunday’s regular-season finale in Boston. He said that he had stayed sharp by throwing whenever he could.

Photo

Joba Chamberlain, who did not pitch in Games 1 or 2, on the warning track at Yankee Stadium before Game 3 on Saturday night.Credit
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

“I’m anxious to pitch any day,” Chamberlain said. “It’ll be fine when I get in there.”

NEW PITCH FOR HUGHES According to Pitch F/X data found on TexasLeaguers.com, Phil Hughes threw 79 changeups (4.9 percent of his pitches) in the regular season.

However, 30 of them came in his last six appearances, since Sept. 5, as Hughes, who started Game 3 on Saturday night, has focused on honing that pitch for the postseason.

Hughes’s curveball is more advanced than his changeup, which is why he has felt more comfortable throwing it to left-handed hitters. But the changeup, when on, is particularly useful against left-handers, who hit 17 of the 25 home runs Hughes allowed. Five of the first six hitters in the Twins’ lineup hit left-handed.

“I think anytime you have more than two pitches or three pitches to go to as a pitcher, it’s more difficult as a hitter,” Girardi said. “Especially if you don’t have one going right away. Say you don’t have a curveball. Your changeup could be your off-speed pitch until you get it going, or vice versa.”

GIRARDI AND BERRA Soon after Joe Girardi’s first daughter, Serena, was born in 1999, he took her to the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, N.J., just to make sure he got a picture of Berra holding her, Girardi said. (Berra, the Yankees’ Hall of Fame catcher, was scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday night.)

“That’s how much it means to me,” Girardi said of his relationship with Berra. “And I love having him around. I look forward to when he’s here, when he’s here in spring training. We sit around and talk baseball. He’s such a wonderful man.”

SMALL CHANGE FOR TWINS Minnesota Manager Ron Gardenhire suggested Wednesday that he might add Alexi Casilla to the starting lineup in place of shortstop J. J. Hardy for Game 3. Instead, Gardenhire kept the lineup intact and made only a minor adjustment to the batting order.

Gardenhire moved the left-handed hitting Jason Kubel to fourth in the order, behind Joe Mauer. Kubel batted seventh in the two previous games of this series.

It was an adjustment Gardenhire has routinely made this season when the Twins faced right-handed pitchers, like the Yankees’ Phil Hughes, who started Saturday. Hardy was 1 for 7 with two strikeouts in Games 1 and 2. Casilla had not had an at-bat in this series.

Gardenhire said that he opted to keep Hardy in the lineup to maintain defensive continuity but that Casilla was an option off the bench.

“Just left it alone,” Gardenhire said of the lineup before the game. “Just looked at where we’re at and wanted Hardy back out there to catch the ball.” MARK VIERA

A version of this article appears in print on October 10, 2010, on Page SP7 of the New York edition with the headline: Chamberlain’s Role in Relief Still Diminished. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe